Almanac chapter 23: Bad Things

                                     Chapter 23

                                     BAD THINGS

              As you are about see, all bad things are not  so  bad.   They
         often  have an interesting or amusing side.  Looking at the bright
         side of unfortunate situations may cause people to  remember  that
         such bad  things exist yet often  people are in a position  to  do
         something about it.

              Because of our modern diet of food preservatives, undertakers
         have  been noticing that dead people do not deteriorate as fast as
         they once did.

              If a man shaves with a razor he uses more energy than  if  he
         uses  an  electric  shaver because of the power required to purify
         and pump the water through his faucet.

              Every weekday morning,  the  commuters  of  Los  Angeles  use
         250,000  gallons  of  gas  getting  to work.  They drive 5 million
         miles, which would be like one car driving to the moon and back 20
         times, or around the earth 192 times.

              If you were to sort through a typical landfill here  is  what
         you would find:
              41  percent  of  your  trash would be unrecycled paper.  17.9
         percent of the stuff is yard clippings with which you could make a
         fine mulch.  7.9 percent  of  the  trash  is  uneaten  food.   6.5
         percent  of  it  is  plastic that almost never disintegrates.  8.7
         percent is precious metal - primarily aluminum  and  steel.   Wear
         thick  gloves, 8.7 percent of your trash is glass.  9.3 percent is
         rubber, leather, clothing, wood and other trash.

              We are destroying the world's rain forests at the rate of 100
         acres per minute.  An acre is a square 208 feet on a  side.  Forty
         percent  of  the  rain forests are already gone.  Many folks don't
         realize exactly why the forests are being wasted.  One big  reason
         is hamburgers. It is profitable to raise cattle where rain forests
         once  were.  If  we  could  all eat less beef, there would be less
         reason to remove the trees.

              There is a chemical waste dump in the Soviet  Union  that  is
         twice as big as the whole state of Vermont.

              Two  to  four  million tons of oil leak into the Soviet water
         table every year from the Siberian pipeline.

              Americans use eight times more fuel than people anywhere else
         in the world.

              Of the 20,000 television commercials written each year, 7,000
         are for childrens' sugary breakfast cereals.  In other  words,  35
         percent  of  commercials  are  designed  to  mislead children into
         desiring sugary cereal.

              In the past  twenty  years,  there  has  been  a  39  percent
         increase in the number of overweight children. One major reason is
         television.   Not  only does this lack of activity take up more of
         kids' time, but while they watch, they tend to eat the  junk  food
         that is constantly being advertised at them.
              According  to  many  pediatricians,  up  to  one third of all
         children at age two may  already  be  developing  abnormally  high
         cholesterol levels.

              The screaming of an upset baby can damage your hearing. Kid's
         can  scream  at levels up to 90 decibels, and permanent damage can
         be caused at 85 dB.   One  dB  is  the  minimum  amount  of  sound
         detectable by the human ear.

              Last  year  81 million Americans got sick from food poisoning
         and 9,000 of them  died.   The  average  American  will  get  food
         poisoning 100 times in a lifetime. The symptoms are headache, sick
         feeling,  diarrhea. Most people think this is the flu.  To prevent
         food poisoning, clean all kitchen items  with  heat,  never  leave
         food at room temperature for more than a few minutes.

              Remember   when   you  could  buy  little  green  turtles  in
         department stores?  These were discontinued  because  they  passed
         salmonella (food poisoning) to children. People who knew about the
         turtle  scam  were  glad.  Almost  all of those turtles starved to
         death.  It seems that a turtle can survive several months  without
         eating  after birth. The commercial turtle food that was available
         where the turtles were sold was usually  nothing  more  than  "ant
         eggs." In fact, it was only ant egg SHELLS. But it does not matter
         that the food was not nutritious, because the turtles wouldn't eat
         it  anyway.  When  the shells decomposed and sank to the bottom of
         the water, people used to think that the turtle had eaten.

              Fifty percent of all turkeys and 37 percent of  all  chickens
         that   you  can  buy  in  grocery  stores  are  contaminated  with
         Campylobacter (food poisoning) according  to  the  Food  and  Drug
         Administration.

              Many  millions  of  chickens are raised and spend their whole
         lives in coops so efficiently packed that they  have  no  room  to
         fall over if they die.

              66  people per day are killed by drunk drivers.  This is down
         from 70 per day as it was a couple of years ago.

              According  to  the  Environmental  Protection  Agency  almost
         twenty percent of Americans drink tap water  that  is  dangerously
         high in lead.

              Diabetes  is  the  third  leading  cause of death in America.
         Diabetes is 50 percent more common  than  twenty-five  years  ago.
         Presently,  10 million Americans suffer from the disease. (Perhaps
         it is related to the increase  in  refined  sugar  consumption  in
         America.)

              One million Americans wear false teeth.   Approximately  half
         of  these  are  radioactive.  There is a tiny amount of uranium in
         these teeth to make them whiter in incandescent light.

              Human beings and pigs are  the  only  animals  that  can  get
         sunburn.

              Sunburn  seems  to  heal  in  just  a few days, but the blood
         vessels under the skin do not return to their normal condition for
         up to fifteen months.

              Baseball players have the longest lives of all occupations.

              A study of  professional  baseball  players  determined  that
         left-handers  had  significantly more medical accidents and tended
         to die younger than right-handers. The southpaws also  had  higher
         incidence  of  immunological  problems  and  sleep  disorders. The
         hypothesis behind this phenomenon is that babies  who  would  have
         normally  been  right-handers become lefties if they have problems
         at birth such as long labor or low birth weight.

              In  another  study,  this  one  of  college   students,   the
         researchers  found  that  44  percent of left-handers had received
         medical attention for an accident  within  the  last  five  years,
         while  only 36 percent of the right-handers had such troubles.  In
         this case, scientists  believe,  the  reason  might  be  that  the
         equipment  of  the  world  is  designed primarily for right-handed
         people.

              Some  gem  merchants  now  use  Geiger  counters  to  inspect
         precious  stones before purchasing them. It seems that the natural
         colors of  some  gems  can  be  enhanced  by  exposure  to  atomic
         radiation. Some unscrupulous dealers have done this.

              Americans throw 694 plastic  bottles  into  the  trash  every
         second.

              A plastic container that you throw away today may still exist
         50,000 years from now.

              Once  every  month,  National Geographic publishes a stack of
         magazines 52 miles tall.

              The people of the world use one billion gallons of crude  oil
         a day.

              A  tankful  of gas uses about the same amount of crude oil as
         14 bicycle tires.

              A typical car uses about 1.6 ounces of gas for  every  minute
         the engine idles.  It uses up about one-half ounce of gas to start
         the  engine. So, if you turn off the car anytime you are likely to
         stand idling for more than twenty seconds, you will save gasoline,
         and therefore save money. It costs approximately  one  dollar  per
         hour to idle your car.

              If you slow a car down from 57 to 50 miles per hour, you will
         get  half  again  better gas mileage.  This means that the average
         American driver would save about $200 per year.

              The rain in New York carries so much acid from pollution that
         it has killed all the fish in 200 lakes in  the  Adirondack  State
         Park.

              The   world's   smog   is   so  thick  that  Astronomers  are
         complaining.

              Americans throw out 1,000 bags of garbage every second.

              We grow more tobacco than wheat in America.

              According  to the National Academy of Engineering, the deaths
         of 15,000 Americans are caused by air pollution.

              Fifteen thousand children starve to death every day.

              In Bengladesh, only one out of two children live to  see  age
         five.

                                      Smoking

              Every thing about smoking cigarettes is dangerous.  Last year
         6,000 people suffered injuries caused by ashtrays.

              A  cure  for  cigarette  smoking:  learn  to  play  a  flute,
         recorder, trumpet.  Then play a little music  until  the  urge  to
         smoke  subsides  every time you feel the temptation. Not only will
         you soothe your oral desire, but you will become involved  in  the
         music  which will make you forget the urge, and you will be calmed
         by the music and the feeling of creativity.

              At one time, the country of Albania honored a smoker who used
         twelve packs a day on a postage stamp.

              A  pack-a-day  smoker  smokes the equivalent on one cigarette
         one-half mile long per year.

              Cigarette smokers catch colds 65 percent more often.

              Americans smoke 1 billion cigarettes per day. If you lined up
         all the cigarettes smoked in one day, then drove past them  at  55
         miles per hour, it would take 28 weeks (driving 40 hours per week)
         to get to the end of the line.

              11,000 cigarettes are lighted every second, just in America.

              Every 22 seconds, a kid tries smoking for the first time.

              Each  year  the  cigarette  industry  spends  two  and a half
         billion dollars in advertising to replace the 365,000 customers it
         loses due to death from lung cancer.

              There are three million new cigarette smokers in America each
         year.

              2,700 people die per day of heart disease.

              When researchers gave three joints (marijuana) per day,  five
         days  a  week, to  monkeys,  which  is  less  exposure  than  many
         humans  give  themselves,  after  six months the monkeys exhibited
         chronic symptoms ranging from listlessness  to  irritability.   No
         big deal. But then the monkeys were no longer given the marijuana,
         and they did not return to normal.  Even after eight months, their
         brain wave patterns were quite abnormal.  When the monkey's brains
         were examined with a microscope, physical damage was obvious.

              The  THC  [tetrahydrocannabinol]  content of marijuana common
         during the 1960's was typically one percent.  THC  is  the  active
         ingredient.   Marijuana  growers  worked constantly to improve the
         quality of their weed and now contains up to 14 percent THC.   The
         monkeys received 3 percent.

                                       Cancer

              400,000 Americans die of cancer anually.

              Researchers  found  out  that  women  who  work  at  home  as
         housewives have a 54 percent greater chance of getting cancer than
         women who work at paid jobs.  The hypothesis  is  that  housewives
         are  affected by the carcogenic cleaning chemicals they frequently
         use.

              The amount of people who get cancer is increasing at the rate
         of two percent per year.

              According to a study done by The  Harvard  School  of  Public
         Health,  women  who  drink  at least one cup of coffee per day are
         more than twice as likely to get bladder cancer.

              You can accidentally kill yourself by drinking over  40  cups
         of  coffee  in  one  day.  The amount of caffeine is sufficient to
         cause respiratory failure.

              70,000 New York residents get cancer every year.  That's  one
         out  of  every  251  people. In Wyoming, there are less than 1,000
         cancer victims per year, which is one out of every 469 people. You
         are nearly twice as likely to get cancer if you live in New York.

              Research  has  pointed  out that lonely women get more breast
         cancer than women who have lots of friends.

              In the Duwamish River in Seattle, one out of every four  fish
         has liver cancer.  In a river in Ohio almost every single bullhead
         over three years old has cancer.

         These  foods  have  been  found  to  be  carcinogenic  if eaten in
         sufficient   quantities:  celery,   parsley,  parsnips,   rhubarb,
         mustard,  mushrooms, honey,  herb tea,  peanut butter  and grilled
         meat.

              Children  don't have to worry about cancer because in kids it
         is very rare.  However, if kids are aware  about  how  to  protect
         against cancer starting when they are young - through proper diet,
         exercise,   avoidance   of  air  pollution,  chemicals,  excessive
         sunlight and smoking - they are far less likely to get cancer when
         they are older.

                                  Military Matters

              During  World War II, 2,700,000 tons of bombs were dropped on
         Germany, killing 300,000 people, and  seriously  injuring  780,000
         more.  If  cars  were  dropped from the sky instead, by weight the
         equivalent number of cars would be 1,800,000, enough cars to  give
         six  to  the  families  of  every  one  who  was killed by a bomb.
         Altogether, Germany lost almost 12 million people.

              35 countries have a total of over 50,000  atomic  bombs  with
         which we can be blown up:
              Argentina,   Austria,   Belgium,   Brazil,   Canada,   China,
         Czechoslovakia, Denmark, East  Germany,  Egypt,  Finland,  France,
         India,  Iran,  Israel,  Italy, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway,
         Pakistan, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, South  Africa,  South
         Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Turkey, United Kingdom,
         United States, and Yugoslavia.

              It is tempting to think that with the new, improved relations
         between  the super-powers of Russia and America, the likelyhood of
         nuclear war is diminishing. Modern times are not scary like in the
         1960's, with people building nuclear  fallout  shelters  in  their
         backyards  and  under  their schools.  Right? Wrong, there are now
         dozens of politically unstable, or even down-right crazy  suicidal
         countries with nuclear capability.

              Both  the Soviets and the Americans are building more nuclear
         missils than they promised to throw away with the  INF  Treaty  of
         1987. (Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces)

              Soldiers  do  not  march  in  step  when going across bridges
         because  they  could  set up a vibration which could be sufficient
         to knock the bridge down.

              10%  of  the world's total production goes to the manufacture
         of arms.

              Prior to the U.S. invasion  of  Grenada,  their  unemployment
         rate  was  fourteen  percent.   Now  it's  thirty  percent in that
         country.

              Fighting in the Confederate army at the Battle of Gettysburg,
         General Henry Heth was wearing a hat that was  too  big.   He  had
         folded some newspaper into the sweatband to make it fit better. He
         was  hit  in the head by a bullet, but the newspaper deflected its
         path, saving his life.

              Liechtenstein used to have the world's smallest  army.  There
         was  one soldier. He served his country until his death at age 95.
         Then the country no longer had an army.

              When Commodore Perry's ships sailed into Japanese waters  the
         local  warriors  sailed  out  and  tried  to restrain the ships by
         holding them with ropes. They knew the steam ships were huge,  but
         had  no  idea  of  the power of their engines.  When the commodore
         blew the ship's whistles, the warriors were  so  scared  they  all
         fled.

              In one of the most unusual military maneuvers ever,  in  1911
         King  Richard  The Lionhearted captured the fortress of Acre.  The
         inhabitants were  barricaded  inside,  so  King  Richard  had  his
         soldiers  throw  100  beehives  over the walls.  The people in the
         fortress surrendered immediately.

              A military technique was used  1600  years  ago  that  should
         still be used occasionally today.  Java and Malaya both wanted the
         territory  of  Sumatra, so the generals each selected one buffalo.
         The  buffalo  were  pitted  against  each  other  and  no   people
         participated in the battle.

              What  is the war room in the Pentagon really like?  There are
         no high-tech plexiglass wall maps, no high-tech computers  any  of
         that  sort  of  stuff.  All  there  are  is a bunch of telephones,
         several chairs and some conference tables.
              The famous red telephone, or "hot line" between  the  Kremlin
         and  the  Pentagon  does  not  exist. The closest thing to it is a
         couple of teletype machines in another office in the building.

              Flint lock muskets were used from 1550 to  1850,  300  years.
         They  were  very  crude, requiring reloading after every shot, and
         frequently misfiring, jamming or even exploding. Ben Franklin once
         remarked that soldiers  might  do  better  with  bows  and  arrows
         because four arrows could be shot during the time it took to shoot
         a musket once.

              During  the  Civil  War Battle of Spottsylvania so many shots
         were fired that a nearby oak tree ten inches in diameter  was  cut
         in two from hundreds of random bullet hits.

              After  the  Battle  of Waterloo, all the teeth were extracted
         from the soldiers that lay dead on the field. These were made into
         dentures called Waterloo Teeth and worn  by  the  elite,  rich  of
         America who needed false teeth.

              Decimation  used  to  be  a  military disciplinary technique.
         Started by the ancient Romans and used by some European  countries
         until  World War I, it meant to kill one out of every ten men in a
         group of soldiers who had misbehaved.   Technically,  to  decimate
         still means to destroy ten percent.

              More  American  colonists  fought  on the side of the British
         than those who fought for independence.  Only 16  percent  of  the
         eligible  men  fought  in this war. The rest tended their farms as
         usual.

              During World War I, 33 percent of English men of military age
         were killed.

              General John Burgoyne had great respect  and  obedience  from
         his  soldiers.   His  method  of  punishment  was different.  If a
         soldier misbehaved, he had the man wear his coat inside out.

              Of  the  half-million  Americans who receive combat training,
         half of these men will develop some permanent hearing  damage  due
         to the loud noises made by combat weapons.

              It seems that John Paul Jones, the naval hero of the American
         revolution  was  a  bit  of  a trouble maker.  Originally he was a
         professional actor, but in fact he  was  also  a  pirate.  He  was
         accused  of at least two murders and one rape.  After the American
         revolutionary war was over, he  served  in  the  Russian  navy  as
         Kontradmiral Pavel Ivanovich Jones.

              The  United  States  Strategic Air Command invented an atomic
         powered airplane.  The  only  problems  were  that  even  carrying
         twenty  tons  of  lead  to  shield  the  pilot, only crews who had
         already had children could be used due to the  radiation  exposure
         and  if  the  plane  crashed, there would be no way to contain the
         contamination.  Fortunately, the military had the good  sense  not
         to develop this plan fully.